Highly Overrated But Still Good

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

The movie runs out of plot and jokes well before the end of a two-hour running time, long for a light comedy.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

I recently bought the DVD set of the Beiderbeck Trio - amazingly good stuff. The first one, the Beiderbeck Affair, was made thirty years ago and still retains all its charm and gentle humour.It pokes fun at pomposity and and in particular "the system" without any expletives or stupidity, a difficult thing to do.Every word of dialogue is beautifully delivered and every shot is nicely framed, especially the high-level shots.The two remaining shows maintain the same features - a joy from start to finish. Wish it had been longer.The additional info booklet was very interesting as were the interviews and the splendid CD of the music tracks.

This was not the first outing for Alan Plater's schoolteacher detectives, who in 1981's Get Lost had been played admirably by Alun Armstrong and Frances Tomelty. However no-one could quibble with the re-casting. James Bolam effortlessly nails each line of the arch dialogue, while the talented Barbara Flynn has that rare quality of looking both believably ordinary and incredibly fanciable. Some wonderful British character actors also get plenty of screen time in what is effectively an ensemble piece. Colin Blakely, Keith Marsh, Danny Schiller, Robert Longden and Keith Clarke all do sterling work, but special mention must be made of Dudley Sutton's tweedy schoolmaster and Terence Rigby's saturnine Big Al, while Dominic Jephcott was a real find as the callow university educated detective. A beautifully constructed series, that remains as pertinent as ever in a society increasingly disrespectful of privacy and intolerant of eccentricity.

As some reviews have said "A jazz soundtrack paces this British series, adding more mystery to the lovers' quest for the truth" and "This outlandishly funny series weaves quirky characters, witty dialogue and a wonderfully smooth, jazz soundtrack into a uniquely satisfying, entertainment experience." Well, that's not how I'd describe it.. The jazz soundtrack is fabulous, Bix Beiderbecke tracks blast through the slow bits in between the meat of the show, making this a truly immersive, grab-you-by-the-ears and drag-you-along series. Oh yeah, the dialog, plot, setting are all excellent too - if you haven't seen it, it's worth the 9.3 rating at time of writing this!

Set in and around Leeds in the North of England, Trevor Chaplin and Jill Swinburne are teachers in a typical secondary school. Trevor is a jazz freak whilst Jill is an eco-activist. They stumble across some nefarious goings on in the local community and with the help of some unlikely characters solve a tangled web of corruption.The humor in this show is absolutely top notch both in situations and dialog and although I have seen it a couple of times, it never seems to get stale. I love this show.